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Summary of learning!!

“Learning without reflection is a waste, and reflection without learning is dangerous” – Confucius

It’s hard to realize that we’re almost done with this course. This was my first class with “Katia” and I’ve already learnt a lot from her and my classmates. This course was very different from other Edtech courses, and from this class, I found the debate format very engaging, especially when I got an opportunity to participate. From our debate discussions, I have learned a lot, and have been able to apply in our day-to-day life!

Throughout this course, i have gained so much knowledge about the issues and problems of educational technology that students as well as teachers are facing. Moreover, in the past few weeks, I have learned much about the issues and benefits of using technology in the classroom, role of social media in enhancing our teaching-learning process, and view and understanding of technology in the classroom which has changed my viewpoint and will continue to change in the future!

Furthermore, again in this course, I collaborated with Amanpreet for the Summary of Learning, and it was a wonderful experience for me to work with her.

Thank you very much everyone!

Click the link below to watch the video:  

Thank you

Lovepreet kaur

Debate#8- Online education is detrimental to the social and academic development of children.

It was a very interesting debate by Britney, Kayla and Colton (On agree side) and Arkin, Katherine and Chris (On disagree side). Indubitably, by the advent of internet, e-learning is more popular among many countries. However, this trend put some awful impacts on the academic development of children, and I believe, Online learning is the key to success in this era of ever-changing technology and increased competition.

Agree:

Commencing With the negative effects of online education on learners. Children easily make new friends and learn co-operation, understanding and leadership skills which is not possible via online study. Additionally, spending too much time on internet, children are being distracted by social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and snapchat which will not only make them couch potato but also influence them through vulgar and violent content. Consequently, their academic integrity and goals are being lowered, which results in lack of concentration in theoretical and practical work.

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Disagree:

Moving further, despite having numerous negative impacts of online study, positive impacts cannot be neglected. The first and foremost is that, as discussed in the video, online classes are flexible, reliable and convenient to use. To make it clearer, one can use e-link anywhere, at any time and on any device with the excess of internet which allows for customized learning experience. Due to some technical issues some students are not able to attend offline classes but e-learning is very beneficial for them as they can get more knowledge about a particular subject as online programs are more affordable and provides individual learning environment which further helps in improving self- regulation skills. For instance, during covid-19 educational institutes were shut down by government and in that time, online classes make learning very effective for students who were absent from there schools, whereas without any restriction their study runs very well. Next, Online study is also very beneficial for those students who are suffering from various health issues such as depression, mood disorders and anxiety as it helps to promote life-long learning. To add to it, many students move metropolitan cities to get coaching classes for tough aptitude examinations for higher administrative jobs.  Therefore, they pay huge amount of money on face and accommodation rents but online classes make it easy for the students to attend online coaching classes for arm long distance which saves their money and time.

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With the help of communication technologies and increased internet access, the education system is rapidly changing, and giving students hope for bettering their particular learning experiences. I’ve always believed that offline learning is superior because it allows for one-on-one interaction between a student and a teacher, but after attending online classes, I believe that online learning was a refreshing and novel experience, with self-paced online sessions and one-on-one doubt clearing sessions. It totally changed my perspective!

To recapitulate, although there are some negative outcomes of online studies such as a limited friendship zone, social media distraction, positive ones outweigh negatives as it is time saving, reliable and consistent way for students.

Thank you

Lovepreet kaur

Debate#7-Educators and schools have a responsibility to help their students develop a digital footprint

There is no doubt that the media contributes significantly to the framing and shaping of our children as powerless victims. Instead of viewing the internet and the digital world as a harmful invention in our society, I feel we should be discussing them in a positive way. As a result, instructors and schools should aid their students in developing a digital footprint. In the following paragraphs, I agree with the concept that will be discussed at the end.

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Commencing with the importance of digital footprint. A digital footprint is your online identity and personality, and it is what distinguishes you from others. It’s about establishing an online reputation, or making an impression, based on what you do online. It is critical to be aware of this because anything placed online is permanent and cannot be erased. You leave a digital footprint, which is a trail of information, when you use the internet. I found this article” https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/the-power-of-digital-footprints” very informative as it explains, how as an educator we can help our students in developing their digital identity!

This article also explains about student’s have to learn about their privacy policies and respect other’s privacy online when tagging, posting, or copying other’ personal information.

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Students must learn about their digital identities, and teachers must adapt their approach to include ethical technology use. We should improve students’ understanding of their digital footprints and encourage them to make educated decisions about the information they create and share online. as an educator, we can Create online communities using Discord, Google Classroom, or a blog platform, and ask students to consider what it means to be a member of one. Encourage them to share their work with a larger audience by publishing it. Their photos, films, and blog articles should all convey a compelling tale about them. Etiquette, respect, and empathy are social and emotional characteristics that should be displayed both online and offline. Invite students to participate in online discussions and offer feedback. Nextly, educators must ensure that their students have the skills to become contributing member of society working in their chosen field, where as teachers give them content knowledge and skills but think about their online activities. Hence, they can have on their ability to achieve those goals. Moreover, teachers not only need more information on this topic but should also have a solid lesson plan in place to educate their students about online activity, because I feel students that not have any online identity can be also be detrimental for themselves. Therefore, for limit the potential for negative consequences, we have to encourage our students to create their professional online identities.

To recapitulate, I believe, although Digital footprints are beneficial for students, it is the responsibility of educators as well as schools to help them for developing digital footprints.

Debate#6 -Cell phones should be banned in the classroom.

Nowadays, mobile phones recolonized human lives by giving a greater approach to communication as well as education. Even, students are replacing education with cellular devices, and they are using these devices inside classrooms which has both positive and negative impacts on children. this essay intends to discuss the effects of using mobile phones in the classrooms, and I believe that schools must prohibit the usage of cellular devices in the classrooms.

Commencing with the merits of mobile phones on school-going learners. Our 1st and foremost is that with the advent Of the Internet, there is a great availability of knowledge related to different streams such as science, mathematics, and history by which students do not feel the burden of theoretical work. Moreover, E-learning also saves tons of paper as inside school people search any type of files on the Internet and save it on their phones which would be easy for them to keep PDFs for a longer time.

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Moving towards the negative impacts of using mobile phones in the classroom. The primary one is that, said by Echo, if students use cell phones in classrooms, they are being distracted by social media and gaming apps, which their academic scores are being affected.  As said by Amanpreet, the use of cell phones in the classroom gives rise to E-cheating, academic dishonesty, sexting, and cyber-bullying. As a result, children suffer from mental problems because of “cyber-based abuse”. Moreover, the Internet is sometimes Spam or false as compared to written books which provide correct knowledge given by experts and affiliated by various education boards. Another demerit is that by using the cell phones in the classroom they can easily copy data during their exams because they get habitual of using an easy way to study. As explained in These articles, Cell Phones in The Classroom: Learning Tool or Distraction, and Changing our Mindset in Regards to Cellphones in the Classroom,  offer a number of lists explaining how having a cell phone in the classroom can cause a variety of problems such as Influence on learning (cheating), implications on Academic integrity, risk of inappropriate use (cyber-bullying), disconnection from face-to-face activities, and potential impact on health( texting and sexting), and the term “Nomophobia” is the fear of not being able to use one’s phone or the many apps that these devices now offer (Tams, Legoux, & Léger, 2018), which leads to inability to focus, stress and anxiety when they are without their phones for long periods of time, and poor cognitive functioning. One of the major concerns is that it threatens classroom’s learning. As Students check their phones in the classroom an average of more than 11 times a day. And they are spending up to 20% of their in-class time texting, emailing, and checking social media. Perhaps this was the reason that, in September 2019, Ontario’s Education Ministry was planning to ban cellphones in the classrooms. A study showed that the closer the cellphone was to the students, the poorer cognitive functioning was (Watson, 2017)

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Thus, in the future, it becomes a daunting task for them to excel in any field. To add to it, I believe, mobile phones have replaced the traditional methods of teaching, and use of mobile phones in the classroom is degrading the value of teachers as more and more students adopt mobile learning. So, there are more chances in the upcoming future, students would not require teachers anymore in the classrooms.

To recapitulate, while phones have numerous positive effects on children in schools, the negative ones are far higher; therefore, I believe, mobile phone should be banned inside the classrooms.

” Email, instant messaging, and cell phones give us fabulous communication ability, but because we live and work in our own little worlds, that communication is totally disorganized”– Marilyn Vos Savant

DEbate#5 – Social media is ruining childhood?

Indubitably, by the invent of internet technology, people usually communicate through various social media platforms, as social media allows us to learn, see new perspectives, and stand in solidarity with people around the globe. I am also using social media in my personal and professional life on a daily basis and see so much value in it. However, even though social media can be used in a positive way, there are also important things to be aware of, specially for children.

Both the Agree and Disagree Teams presented their valuable information which made the debate process very challenging. Through this blog post, I am going to share the views.

Starting with the negative implications, the first is that social media is interfering with children’s physical and mental abilities. The agree team (Gunpreesh, Dami, and Fasiha) also explored some interesting facts. While the online world is undoubtedly a great place for the younger generation, many children are victims of online abuse and cyberbullying, which leads to an increase in psychological health issues in children due to stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep brought on by social media use. Although social media platforms can be a tremendous source of knowledge sharing and connection, it can also be distracting to children because they can quickly lose focus while browsing through irrelevant photos and videos, which negatively affecting their academic performance.

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Furthermore, social media is targeting the family bonding because most young people choose to meet new friends on social media rather than spend time with their parents and grandparents, resulting in family conflicts. Apart from that, the primary concern of children using social media is, student safety and privacy. Because we cannot simply introduce them to social media without teaching them how to be safe and protect their personal information, it is our primary responsibility as educators to educate them about online safety by providing them with appropriate resources.

Moving towards the solving factors to tackle this issue. The primary one is that parents should keep an eye on their children by giving them a time-limit. They should also motivate their children towards sports activities either indoor or outdoor. Moreover, I think it really depends on the children also, if a child is very mature, with a private account, I think it’s quite safe.

The agree team (Jennifer, Shivali and Mike) also explored some informative facts about the use of social media. I have found that several media which are treated a good source of content as well as an important tool to increase the power of digital knowledge and leave footprints over the readers. News websites according to me are considered to be an important tool where I think, I can gather information across the world which further would help me to make my student understand. I learned about three educational websites for my main project in my previous class, Desmos and TikTok, and “Khan Academy,” which is a very smart and interesting website that supports pre-service and post-service teachers and their students. When I used to teach in India, I used this digital site for the first time to teach my students, and I’m still learning from it. It is a really helpful website that is beneficial not only to students but also to teachers and parents of students.

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“To utilize social media tools effectively and properly, you must absolutely generate spontaneous communications in direct response to what others are saying or to what is happening in that moment. Be yourself. Be conversational. Be engaged.” Aliza Sherman

Although there are numerous awful impacts of social media on ruining childhood, by taking suitable steps, we can make it good for children!

Thank you

Lovepreet Kaur

Debate#4-Educators have the responsibility to use technology and social media to promote social justice?

The extent to which teachers must participate in using technology and social media to encourage social justice is a hotly debated topic. I feel that teachers must educate their students about social justice but without using social media. Yes, teachers must educate kids regarding how social media affects education and model effective usage in an attempt to assist students to become informed and powerful learners.

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Whenever it comes to educating social justice, I believe rather than being a quiet participant, educators must be pushed to take on the role of someone with an opinion. Social justice is a theory as well as a set of acts that entails treating everyone with dignity, fairness, and charity. The four main aspects of social justice in education, in my opinion, are:

  • Misconceptions, lies, and preconceptions are challenged, confronted, and disrupted.
  • Students are given the resources they need to reach their greatest potential.
  • Makes use of all of the learners’ abilities and talents.
  • Encourages independent thinking and empowers social change agents.

I agree with, as explained in the video, “Social media is the biggest platform for promoting students voice” as it addressing the issues, and connect us worldwide but as said by Dalton and Brook, there are other ways also for promoting social justice than the social media only. However, whenever it comes to whether or not to utilize social media platforms to encourage social justice, I tend to lean with the Disagree side because I believe in the significance of educating social justice, but I also feel that teachers must be impartial and utilize social networking responsibly.

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I believe that teachers should be pushed to allow students to make their educated conclusions; otherwise, instead of thinking, many students would simply concur with the educator. Teaching kids that there are various points of view and distinct points of view will aid in the development of critical thinkers. I believe that freely discussing personal opinions on social networking sites make individuals more vulnerable, particularly if those opinions contradict the ideology promoted by their institutions.

Students may see both aspects of a story by conducting research, which allows them to be independent thinkers and create their educated conclusions. I wouldn’t feel comfortable imposing my social agenda on anyone, particularly since anything people upload becomes part of their digital imprint, which could certainly be twisted and come back to harm them later in life. Whenever it comes to selecting whether or not to speak out on social networking sites on specific social justice problems, place and time play a significant impact.

Debate#3- Schools should no longer teach skills that can be easily carried out by technology (e.g., cursive writing, multiplication tables, spelling).

Schools should no longer teach skills that can easily be carried out by technology is surely a controversial topic. There is no doubt, innovators and companies have invested a lot of time, effort, and money into making gadgets and technology that will make learning more appealing, portable, convenient, and feasible for everyone. But I am representing the disagree side and I think that teachers should educate the student about multiplication tables, cursive writing, spelling etc. and all these must not be dependent upon technology.

Let’s first start with the multiplication table. Surely, it is very easy for a student who is 15 years old to use a calculator on their smartphone to do all the calculations and they need not remember the multiplication tables. However, I am agree with Kelly, it is essential for all students to comprehend basic principles of mathematics, as we would not want them to implement facts they do not comprehend, so I believe they need to grasp multiplication in aspects of groupings; for example, students must not just take lessons that 4 x 3 equals 12, but also understand that 4 x 3 is four groups of three, which equals three groups of four so that students could indeed pictorially perceive what the multiplication fact implies, which technology will not be teaching them.

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Children should know their multiplication tables up to 10 x 10 by the age of 6, yet many still remember them up to 12 x 12. Students must also understand the meaning and operation of the tables. The curriculum, on the other hand, does not specify how this should be taught; alternatively, teachers must give a variety of methods for students to acquire their tables.

I believe that keyboarding has been introduced into the educational curriculum, although cursive writing is still required. It’s a long way from only a few generations earlier when typing was a high school elective pursued by young women interested in pursuing a secretarial career.

Nevertheless, data reveals that a writing tool and paper are still used for a significant portion of standard primary school classroom time – upwards of 85 mins every day. And, while tests may be administered using a keyboard or perhaps voice identification technology in the future, I believe that the mental advantages of learning to write using a hand will remain, As said by Durston also, writing is also improving reading skills, fine motor skills and it is good for hand-eye co-ordination. And study reaved that, who write notes by hands are more problem solver, critical thinker and good decision maker.

If youngsters were to merely use a keyboard to learn how to write, all that is needed is for them to perceive the outline of a letter and press it.

However, when you take lessons to manually write it, you’re synchronizing a lot of sensory and motor action, therefore you are thinking about how to shape the alphabet in a manner that facilitates more mental processing as compared to just visual perception. Learning appropriate letter formation aids youngsters in learning cursive, and being capable of writing confidently by hand provides mental advantages in addition to the ability to type quickly.

DEBATE#2, Technology has led to a more equitable society.

In this debate it is stated that technology has created equality in the society and I am into favor of this argument as the points that are discussed by both the team members are absolutely true. The Internet/technology has become increasingly significant as time has passed, and the biggest advantage or benefit of the technology that we all can possess now is the social media platforms. It has made equality in the society in several aspects and reduces the communication gap between the people. It has allowed people to get connect with people throughout world due to globalization. People love to get connect and chat with strangers besides to see their castes, religion and society as they want to know about their communities more and share their culture. It shows the equalities between the people of different culture, castes, race, religion is increasing through these digital platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube etc. Moreover, it has provided the e-learning opportunities to those students who cannot able to visit to different cities and states for their higher education.

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There are several towns and villages existed in the world that do not have higher education and medical facilities but the technology and internet has made it possible now for the students of villages to get higher education and makes their dream true. Apart from this now patients can consult to the doctors through online applications so that they can get health care benefits and keep their families free from any kind of health issues. Technology has made advancement in the transportation sector with this one can cover the huge kilometers of distance in hours.  Many NGOs have started online applications in order to support the poor, disabled and needy homeless people.

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They also create a new society of the needy people where they all share the equal platform and feel love to stay together. It also does not make them to feel alone and depressed in the world of selfish people who neglect them. Also, government is also eliminating the discriminations from the society with this technology by launching the scheme #ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD to spread the education and make the youth educated. Moreover, now lack people, aboriginals and women can fight against the discrimination freely through the support of these digital platforms and technology. Thus, it can be stated that it is the technology that has made several transformations in the society and make them equal. 

“Technology is a word that describes something that doesn’t work yet” – Douglas Adams

DEBATE #1- Technology in the classroom enhances learning

It was a great opening of “The Great Edtech Debate” by Megan, Brittney, Nicole, and Daryl with an interesting topic, “Technology in the classroom enhances learning”. Here are my views on debate-1.

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Advent of innovative technology and internet has improved the learning style of students. Earlier traditional methods are used by the teachers within the class to educate the children but now transformations can be seen in this approach. Now in the classes teachers are using advance teaching techniques through technology while delivering the lectures. Teachers now follow TPACK or SAMR model in higher to teach students in class to introduce the students with technology.

Agree-

As the name of model TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge that is implemented by teachers to analyse by what means they can utilize their domain of knowledge along with technology in order to teach the students with the purpose to enhance their knowledge level. Technology has several positive impacts along with negative ones on the classroom environment. On its pros side, students can come to learn and understand the things easily and can retain it in their mind for longer as it is well known fact that a picture is worth a thousand words. For example, kids in the primary classes can easily learn the rhymes and understand the stories when they view it on the projector rather than read it through hands-on books. Students in colleges and higher classes can get the recorded lectures from the teachers that provide them help in further learning at their homes.  Technology has now replaced the traditional books with the e-books in order to reduce the loads of bags and it saves the costs of purchasing. Now students can buy and resell the e-books on the amazon kindle within seconds.

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Disagree-

On the contrary side this technology has also some drawbacks on the classroom learning environment. The quote “excess of everything is bad’ is well explaining the use of technology in our day-to-day life. First and foremost, allowance of mobile phones, tabs and laptops to students at schools and colleges can create distraction in their education as children usually get addicted towards the social media platforms. They may share the nudity content through social platforms and create negative environment in the class. This also created cyber-bullying and violent environment in the class.

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I believe that, use of technology in the classroom is undoubtedly improving in India, but we believe that it would take another two years for schools to fully adjust to tech-enabled teaching approaches, which may be the new enhanced style of teaching. I also feel that not all courses can be taught using technology, necessitating blended learning and the blending of both offline and online learning. Therefore, technology should be used with care under restrictions at school and colleges.

Thank you

Lovepreet kaur

Technology in teaching & Learning!!

The first time I stepped into a classroom, I vividly remember the day when I received the classroom keys. At that time, it was a portable building that was situated at the border of a playground. When I started my first year at BCM school, I was relieved that I would be so far away from the building I used to live in… I was terrified that I would not measure up right out of university. It took me a week or so, but I began to feel rather lonely and isolated. In an effort to keep up with my fellow teachers, I wanted to know exactly what was happening in their classrooms!

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We get our teacher fire from teacher blogs, Teachers Pay Teachers, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. Now I’ll take advantage of social media to learn new methods and techniques that I’ve never encountered before. From my previous class, I learnt about so many apps such as Canva, whiteboard, Feedly and many more, that am also using right now!

The time has long passed when school learning primarily consisted of using blackboards, chalks and textbooks, and they are long gone. Mobile phones and tablets have become a very popular tool for students inside and outside of the classroom due to the wide adoption of these devices. I have been able to research a wide range of information instantly and use apps which simplify subjects and make them easier to digest due to such devices. In the same way, the rapid rise of tech has relieved teachers from having to provide accurate information, facts, graphics, and statistics during lessons. Thus, schools have spent an astounding £900m a year on educational technology because of the benefits of these technologies.

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I love using technology to my advantage and interactive practical lectures fees much better than blackboard written lectures. I am supplementing the same by running masterclasses with simulation of the information presented. These simulations put a visual picture in the mind of learners, thus help the students to learn more and get better grades. I have personally found that students grades have increased since the use of technology began in classroom too.

Teaching can be challenging, but with the help of technology, it can be more interesting and interactive. With the help of technology in our day-to-day life, it’s great that teachers are collaborating now! Everyone is on the same page, and it’s making a huge difference. Bloggers, social media users, and Pinterest addicts are most likely to get lost in summer. Moreover, it is a great way to communicate outside the routine life with your teaching colleagues. Have a relaxing day with your family or friends by the pool!

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Make your own environment with technology. Imagine your ideal work environment. Are you comfortable there? Are you organized? Is it stimulating? Do you have all the resources you love? What makes you want to spend time there?